Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what guidance her Department will issue to secondary schools on addressing (a) harmful or (b) misogynistic attitudes among pupils in Surrey Heath constituency.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The ‘Freedom from Violence and Abuse: a cross-government strategy to build a safer society for women and girls’, published on 18 December 2025, sets out the strategic direction and concrete actions to prevent violence and abuse, pursue perpetrators, and support victims, and to deliver the department’s unprecedented commitment to halve violence against women and girls in a decade.
We have committed to investing £3 million in a teacher training fund over the next two years to ensure that the new relationships, sex and health education (RSHE) curriculum has the greatest impact and £5 million to pilot healthy relationships training delivered by external providers.
We have already published updated guidance for RSHE, which includes a focus on developing skills for healthy relationships from the beginning of primary school, and equipping children with the tools to tackle harmful influences. Pupils will have opportunities to develop positive conceptions of masculinity and femininity, and at secondary, to understand the harmful impacts of misogynistic online content, including pornography.
We will be doing a full evaluation of our pilots to ensure we can embed best practice.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to support schools to teach about healthy relationships in (a) Surrey and (b) Surrey Heath constituency.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The ‘Freedom from Violence and Abuse: a cross-government strategy to build a safer society for women and girls’, published on 18 December 2025, sets out the strategic direction and concrete actions to prevent violence and abuse, pursue perpetrators, and support victims, and to deliver the department’s unprecedented commitment to halve violence against women and girls in a decade.
We have committed to investing £3 million in a teacher training fund over the next two years to ensure that the new relationships, sex and health education (RSHE) curriculum has the greatest impact and £5 million to pilot healthy relationships training delivered by external providers.
We have already published updated guidance for RSHE, which includes a focus on developing skills for healthy relationships from the beginning of primary school, and equipping children with the tools to tackle harmful influences. Pupils will have opportunities to develop positive conceptions of masculinity and femininity, and at secondary, to understand the harmful impacts of misogynistic online content, including pornography.
We will be doing a full evaluation of our pilots to ensure we can embed best practice.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to reduce misogynistic attitudes amongst pupils in schools in Surrey Heath constituency.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The ‘Freedom from Violence and Abuse: a cross-government strategy to build a safer society for women and girls’, published on 18 December 2025, sets out the strategic direction and concrete actions to prevent violence and abuse, pursue perpetrators, and support victims, and to deliver the department’s unprecedented commitment to halve violence against women and girls in a decade.
We have committed to investing £3 million in a teacher training fund over the next two years to ensure that the new relationships, sex and health education (RSHE) curriculum has the greatest impact and £5 million to pilot healthy relationships training delivered by external providers.
We have already published updated guidance for RSHE, which includes a focus on developing skills for healthy relationships from the beginning of primary school, and equipping children with the tools to tackle harmful influences. Pupils will have opportunities to develop positive conceptions of masculinity and femininity, and at secondary, to understand the harmful impacts of misogynistic online content, including pornography.
We will be doing a full evaluation of our pilots to ensure we can embed best practice.
Asked by: Lord Bird (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they hold any evidence on the reasons why eligible single parents may find it hard to access funded childcare entitlements; if so, whether they will publish it; and what steps they are taking to reduce barriers to such access.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The department does not hold evidence on the reasons why eligible single parents may find it hard to access funded childcare entitlements. However, take-up of entitlements continues to be monitored.
We continue to look across the early education and childcare support provided by different parts of government to identify ways to make it simpler for providers and parents, improve access and increase the overall impact of government spending on children and families.
Through our Best Start in Life strategy we will improve access to early years education and childcare, particularly for low-income families and those with additional needs. Parents may also be eligible for childcare support through Tax-Free Childcare or Universal Credit childcare.
Asked by: Sarah Pochin (Reform UK - Runcorn and Helsby)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when amendments to the Children Act 1989 to strengthen protections for children in local authority care will be brought forward, in the context of the recommendations of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Our ‘Tackling child sexual abuse: progress update’, published in April 2025, set out the government’s work to respond to the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse’s recommendation to amend the Children Act 1989. The update is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/tackling-child-sexual-abuse-progress-update.
The department will publish new national standards and statutory guidance for advocacy for children and young people and has committed to establishing a Child Protection Authority. In December 2025, we published the consultation on the authority’s scope, functions and powers, with the aim of making the system clearer, more unified and ensure there is ongoing improvement through effective evidence-based support for practitioners.
Further, the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill marks the biggest overhaul of children’s social care in a generation with a sharp focus on protecting children. This includes measures to establish multi-agency child protection teams in every local authority area, improve information sharing between agencies, and automatically include education and childcare settings in multi-agency safeguarding arrangements.
Asked by: Cameron Thomas (Liberal Democrat - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to support teacher health and wellbeing.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The department is working in partnership with the sector to improve staff mental health and wellbeing, and boost retention.
We are continuing to fund the charity, Education Support, to provide free professional supervision and counselling to school and college leaders. Professional supervision enables leaders to work with qualified supervisors to develop strategies to support their mental wellbeing. Since April 2024, over 1,300 leaders have been supported.
The department has also worked with the sector and mental health experts to co-create the Education Staff Wellbeing Charter. The Charter sets out commitments from the department, Ofsted, and education settings to protect and promote the wellbeing of staff. As of December 2025, over 4,200 schools and colleges have signed up to the Charter.
The department has developed its Improve Workload and Wellbeing service alongside school leaders, which contains a range of resources for schools to reduce workload and improve staff wellbeing.
Asked by: Rebecca Smith (Conservative - South West Devon)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure a joined-up approach to the implementation of the Schools White Paper, the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Review, and the Curriculum Review.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Every child deserves an education that meets their needs, one that is academically stretching, where every child feels like they belong, and that sets them up for life and work.
The Curriculum and Assessment Review was clear that whilst many young people are succeeding through the current system, too many are still leaving full-time education without the essential knowledge and skills they need to adapt and thrive in a rapidly changing world, particularly those with special educational needs and disabilities, and from disadvantaged backgrounds.
The department will set out its proposals in the upcoming Schools White Paper, which will build on the Curriculum and Assessment Review and the work we have already done to create a system that is rooted in inclusion.
Asked by: Becky Gittins (Labour - Clwyd East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when she will publish the forthcoming consultation on proposals relating to school allergy safety.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.
The government has committed to reviewing the statutory guidance ‘Supporting pupils with medical conditions at school’, which is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/supporting-pupils-at-school-with-medical-conditions--3. We intend to engage with stakeholders on a range of reforms to the way schools support pupils with medical conditions, including allergies, before we consult on revised guidance in due course.
Our aim is to ensure that schools are well equipped to support all pupils with medical conditions as part of our wider ambition to create a more inclusive education system.
Asked by: Damian Hinds (Conservative - East Hampshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to statement in the OBR’s report entitled Economic and fiscal outlook November 2025, page 122, that the Government has announced in the Budget that SEND provision will be fully absorbed into existing RDEL limits from 2028-29, whether this absorption will be in the Department for Education’s budget.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The autumn budget made clear that future special educational needs and disabilities funding implications will be managed within the overall government departmental expenditure limits envelope, such that the government would not expect local authorities to need to fund future special educational needs costs from general funds, once the statutory override ends at the end of 2027/28.
Asked by: Lord Bird (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the current arrangements for funded early years childcare; whether they regard the level of that funding to be sufficient to ensure an affordable and sustainable supply of places for single parents; and how those funding levels take account of the additional reliance single parents may have on formal childcare if they are to remain in work.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
In 2026/27, we expect to provide over £9.5 billion for the early years entitlements, more than doubling annual public investment in the early years sector compared to 2023-24, as we have successfully rolled out the expansion of government-funded childcare for working parents.
This government continues to prioritise and protect investment in the early years, which is why we are investing over £1 billion more in the early years entitlements next year compared to 2025/26 to deliver a full year of the expanded entitlements, and an above inflation increase to entitlements funding rates.
The key measure of sufficiency is whether the supply of available places is sufficient to meet the requirements of parents and children. We have regular contact with each local authority in England about their sufficiency of childcare and any issues they are facing.
Through our Best Start in Life strategy we will improve access to early years education and childcare, particularly for low-income families and those with additional needs. Parents may also be eligible for childcare support through Tax-Free Childcare or Universal Credit childcare.